The present invention pertains to hand trucks, in particular, hand trucks having a powered lifting/lowering feature. Hand trucks are well known devices used for the manual transportation of heavy loads from one location to another location. The most common hand truck has a generally L-shaped body with wheels at the vertex of the L-shaped body and at least one handle located either around a midpoint of the L-shape or near the top of the L-shape. The short leg of the L-shape is the load bearing portion of the hand truck, with the short leg typically level with a support surface when the hand truck is upright. An object to be moved is tilted forward, the short leg is inserted underneath such object, the object is then allowed to tilt back and rest on the short leg. Then the hand truck, with the supported object, is tilted backward until the center of gravity of the combination is generally balanced over the wheels, making otherwise bulky and heavy objects easier to move.
Improvements to such hand-propelled vehicles have been developed over the years. One improvement relates to providing powered lifting, lowering and transporting features. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0302120 to Murphy, published Nov. 14, 2013, discloses a hand truck having a gearbox driveable using a power supply supplied by a user.
There is, however, a continued need for new and improved handtrucks. Such improved handtrucks can improve service speed and efficiency, and can reduce the risks of back and other injury by operators.